Salt and Bairstow take West Indies down with ease
Defending champions drill co-hosts with aggressive top-order batting in Gros Islet, winning with 15 balls to spare
Defending champions drill co-hosts with aggressive top-order batting in Gros Islet, winning with 15 balls to spare
Scorer: K Vairavan | Commentator: @Sudarshanan7
Right then, that concludes the battle of the heavyweights with the hosts having some thinking to do. Don't worry though, as the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight caravan rolls on. India will take on Afghanistan in a few hours from now. So do join us for that, and keep checking out some super stories from our reporters at the ground. On behalf of our scorers and Alan Gardner, bye and take care!
12:02am Presentations
Rovman Powell, West Indies captain: "You have to look at it from batting perspective. We left 15-20 runs. Needed a better display as a bowling group. We are generally good in the last five overs. The execution wasn't good, need to re-evaluate. Hopefully King can pull through for the next two games. Those chances are always difficult. Credit to Salt, he always hurts us. We fell away from our plans to Phil. Need to look back and evaluate. Our destiny is in our own hands, just for us to continue playing some good cricket."
Jos Buttler, England captain: "That was a really good performance. We were practicing well, executed well today. [Chasing 180] We bowled well to restrict a powerful batting line up. We were smart with the bat, the guys were calculative. Bairstow-Salt partnership was very good. Jonny took the game deep and Salty broke it with that one over. That's why we brought Jof [Archer] back there with Pooran and Russell in. We wanted to use him to get a wicket or restrict them and make the back five really difficult. [Rashid] He has been all the time. He is our most important player. Has so much variations and restricts runs. Jonny batted at No. 4 today, class player for a really long time. You keep backing class players. Incredible, mature, senior player's innings. People say you learn when you lose, but you learn when you win as well. Important to put this to bed and focus now."
11:48pm Clinical performance from England this. They show everybody why they are the defending champions, and that too against a West Indies team that were on a roll with eight successive T20I wins. Despite being under the pump at various points - when King and Charles got off to a flier, and when Powell and Rutherford came in with their cameos and then when the West Indies spinners were in action - England found a way to come back, and nothing highlights it more than their death-overs show. They clawed back after the Powell-Pooran stand and never really looked back.
Despite struggling after the powerplay then, Salt managed to find a way to stick around and not stagnate the scoring. Aptly, it was he with a 30-run over against Shepherd, that dealt the killer blow. With of course, Bairstow for company. There was a reason England wanted him to bat at No. 4 in this competition, and he showed why. Experience galore, despite not really batting the middle order a lot.
Phil Salt, Player of the Match: "Not looking too far ahead. Glad to contribute to the win. It was a little tough in the middle with the spin. But Bairstow spoke to me, and had those words in my mind. Did not take on the spinners, and cashed on at the back end. Lot of different factors that can affect an innings. There was a period where I did not face a lot of balls, but important to stick around and carry on. Jonny was fantastic, took pressure off me by taking calculated risk. Couldn't be happier as a team-mate"
Kalpit: "Bowling changes are so crucial in T20s. Roston Chase was bowling excellent, yet captain decided to go for someone else." Yep, and that Joseph over went for 14. Here's Joseph again
Kishore Bhartol: "Did salt get the message sent by Richard in the last over ? He is unstoppable now."
Mayers is expected to link up with the West Indies squad on Saturday
With 87 not out off 47 balls against West Indies, the England opener showed he could bat deep and finish the game for his side
Fast bowler's vital over to Pooran derailed West Indies' acceleration to set up eight-wicket win
Says the focus is now on the short turnaround between England defeat and upcoming fixture against USA
The England captain also lauds Adil Rashid, saying he is their "most important player"
Super Eights, Group 1 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
IND | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2.017 |
AFG | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -0.305 |
AUS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -0.331 |
BAN | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -1.709 |
Super Eights, Group 2 | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
SA | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.599 |
ENG | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1.992 |
WI | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.963 |
USA | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -3.906 |
Group A | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
IND | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1.137 |
USA | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0.127 |
PAK | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.294 |
CAN | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -0.493 |
IRE | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | -1.293 |
Group B | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
AUS | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2.791 |
ENG | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3.611 |
SCOT | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1.255 |
NAM | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -2.585 |
OMA | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -3.062 |
Group C | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
WI | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 3.257 |
AFG | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1.835 |
NZ | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.415 |
UGA | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -4.51 |
PNG | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -1.268 |
Group D | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
SA | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0.47 |
BAN | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0.616 |
SL | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.863 |
NED | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -1.358 |
NEP | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | -0.542 |